And just like that, the Shaquille O’Neal era of Maricopa County law enforcement has ended.

After O’Neal lambasted Kobe Bryant in a “freestyle” rap, in which the word “nigga” was used, Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio stripped O’Neal of his ceremonial honors.

The whole situation is ridiculous. Shaq was about as much of a cop as I am a seven-foot NBA center.

Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Tayshaun Prince, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Michael Redd, Deron Williams.

Those would be the names of your coming US Olympic basketball team. Oddly absent would be a single Celtic, which will surely cause outrage on the East Coast. But let’s hope this bunch can right the US tradition of gold, as nothing else is deemed acceptable.

So take my 10-15 point prediction and stack a heap of whooping on top and you’ve got the result from Boston.

Los Angeles was downed 131-92 in the biggest clinching game mop-job in the history of the NBA Finals. Paul Pierce took home MVP, and the Celtics now hang their first banner since 1986. The parade will be held Thursday morning in Bean Town.

In about 30 minutes, Game 6 of the NBA Finals will be under way, and let me tell you, the Lakers are going down. Boston’s gonna win by 10-15, and Kobe’s going to have a long and lonely flight back to LA.

According to Tim Donaghy, who is a total douche and is facing a possible 25 years in prison for altering the outcome of games he officiated, is now saying that the infamous game 6 of the western conference finals in which the Los Angeles Lakers narrowly beat the upstart Sacramento Kings due in no small part to some of the worst officiating evar seen by anyone EVAR was in fact a screw job planned by the referees officiating that game.
According to documents submitted by Donaghy’s lawyers:

“Referees A, F and G were officiating a playoff series between Teams 5 and 6 in May of 2002. It was the sixth game of a seven-game series, and a Team 5 victory that night would have ended the series. However, Tim learned from Referee A that Referees A and F wanted to extend the series to seven games. Tim knew referees A and F to be ‘company men,’ always acting in the interest of the NBA, and that night, it was in the NBA’s interest to add another game to the series. Referees A and F heavily favored Team 6. Personal fouls [resulting in obviously injured players] were ignored even when they occurred in full view of the referees. Conversely, the referees called made-up fouls on Team 5 in order to give additional free throw opportunities for Team 6. Their foul-calling also led to the ejection of two Team 5 players. The referees’ favoring of Team 6 led to that team’s victory that night, and Team 6 came back from behind to win that series.

I’m not a Kings fan or anything, but when I first read this my reaction was the same as former Kings player (and one of the players that fouled out during that game) Scott Pollard - “I KNEW IT!” That one call when Mike Bibby got elbowed in the grill and got whistled for the foul was too unreal to believe that everything was on the up and up.

Granted, Donaghy would try to say anything to get his ass out of jail sooner, and he is going out of his way to try and rat out every single person he can in exchange for leniency, but this is the one thing that he has said during his arrest that I believe.

But he’s still a waste of skin.

Here’s my take: Paul Pierce was grandstanding last night, plain and simple.

For those that missed it, the Celtic star went down in a heap late in the game, clutching his knee as if he’d been hit by a car. After being carried off the court, Pierce emerged minutes later to a standing ovation, and led the way for a Game 1 Celtics victory over LA.

You know, I’m sure his knee does hurt, but I’m not buying into the drama of it all. This is right up there with Curt Schilling and the bloody sock. Boston fans can yap all they want, forming heroics out of what should simply be a part of the game. It’s just a bunch of sensationalized bullshit. If Pierce winds getting an MRI in the off-season which shows severe damage and tears, I’ll be the one eating crow. But until that time, Paul Pierce is a faker. Willis Reed? Fucking forget about it.